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OF  CALIFORNIA 


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BOISE 


IDAHO 


ill 


Oise 

Idaho 


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OREGON  SHORT  LINE'WaTION,  BOISE 


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L 


PUBLISHED  BY 

BOISE  COMMERCIAL  CLUB 

BOISE,  IDAHO 


J 


^=       State  Capitol  Building         Boise  Public  Library         Boise  Post  Office       ^= 
^  Boise  City  Hall  ^ 

■illilllllllililliillilllliliillllili 


9  iQA'^r 


m 


llllill 


OU  recall,  dear  reader,  how  Ulysses 
was  bound  on  board  his  ship  and 
his  ears  filled  with  wax  to  prevent 
the  delusive  songs  of  the  sirens  of  the 
enchanted  isles  from  luring  him  to  their 
shores. 

These  pages  were  written  to  induce  you 
to  cast  your  lot  with  us  in  this  Eldorado  of 
the  west.  Fill  not  your  ears  with  wcix;  we 
invite  you  to  no  enchanted  land  where 
sirens  sing,  but  to  a  city  and  country  that 
are  not  only  fair  as  a  poet's  dream,  but 
replete  with  opportunity  for  you  to  win  not 
only  a  living,  but  where  a  reasonable  degree 
of  effort,  industry,  perseverance  and  fore- 
sight, will,  in  a  reasonable  time,  win  a 
modest  fortune. 

Be  assured  of  this:  Nothing  herein  is 
exaggerated.  Care  has  been  taken  to  keep 
within  the  limits  of  sober  fact. 

We  beg  a  careful  reading  of  this  booklet. 
It  will  prove  interesting  and  if  you  act 
upon  the  suggestion  made  herein  it  will 
be  to  your  lasting  profit. 


■ 


SOME  BOISE  RESIDENCES 


IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIH 


^M  Naturally^  kind  reader,  you  want  to  know  something  about 

^=  the  state  in  general  where  you  are  invited  to  make  your  home. 

^M  A  half  century  has  hardly  elapsed  since  the  Argonauts  of 

^M  the  west  built  their  camp  fires  in  what  is  now  known  as  Idaho 

^=  and  began  to  lay  here  the  foundations  of  a  great  state. 

^1  Since  then  cities  and  villages  have  sprung  into  being  as 

^=  Minerva  from  the  brow  of  Olympian  Jove,  vast  areas  of  sage- 

^M  brush  plains  have  been  changed  into  waving  fields  of  grain 

^M  and  billowy  sweep  of  orchard  and  vineyard.     The  mountains 

^M  have  yielded  their  hoarded  treasures  and  peace  and  plenty 

^M  fold  their  white  wings  over  happy  homes  and  a  prosperous 

^M  people. 

^g  Idaho  is  nearly  480  miles  long  and  ranges  from  45  to  325 

^M  miles  in  width.     It  has  an  area  of  84,000  square  miles.     It  is 

S  nearly  equal  in  area  to  the  state  of  New  York  and  Pennsyl- 

^g  vania  combined.      Its  acreage  is   something  over   54,000,000. 

^M  Its  present  population  is  350,000  and  is  rapidly  increasing. 

S  The  elevation  varies  from  700  feet  above  the  sea  level  in  the 

^M  extreme  west  to  10,000  in  the  extreme  east.     It  is  a  land  of 

^=  fertile  valleys  and  mountains  rich  in  ore.     So  varied  are  its 

^M  surface  and  elevation  that  all  varieties  of  climate  are  found 

^g  here.      Notwithstanding  its  high  altitude,  the  climate  is  one 

^M  of  the  finest  in  the  world,  owing  to  the  influence  of  the  Japan 

^M  current.     The  average  mean  temperature  is  56  degrees,  milder 

S  by  five  degrees  than  Ohio,  and  by  12  degrees  than  Maine  and 

^g  New  Hampshire.     Open  air  work  is  performed  every  day  in 

^=  the  year,  sunstrokes,  cyclones,  floods  and  severe  storms  are 

^M  unknown  in  its  borders  except  as  memories  of  such  inflictions 

^g  endured  elsewhere, 

^g  Idaho  is  a  land  of  almost  perpetual  sunshine,  the  state 

■illilllilllliliililiillliililillilil^ 


■ 


illlillllillilllilllilllilllillllillllilllillllillllilllllilllilll 

j      averaging  124  clear  days  each  year  and  showing  300  fair  days  D 

1      to  Boston's  191.  B 

I  Rain  seldom  falls  in  Idaho  during  harvest  time  and  crops  ^M 

I      are  often  gathered  up  to  the  time  snow  flies.  ^ 

I  The  agricultural  resources  of  Idaho  rank  very  high.     Its  ^ 

I      21,000,000    acres    of   agricultural   lands    will   produce    every  ^ 

[      variety  of  crops  known  to  the  temperate  zone.     Wheat  yields  = 

1      on  an  average  30  bushels  to  the  acre,  but  yields  as  high  as  80  ^ 

i      have  been  reported;  barley  40  bushels  to  the  acre;  oats  55  to  ^ 

90,  weighing  40  pounds  to  the  bushel ;  rye  is  produced  in  large  ^ 

quantities  and  grows  nicely  even  in  the  arid  belt  without  irri-  ^= 

gation ;  fine  corn  is  produced  in  the  irrigated  districts.    All  the  S 

E      natural  grasses  grow  here  profusely,  and  alfalfa  and  clover  ^g 

usually  yield  three  crops  annually  of  from  four  to  eight  tons  S 

to  the  acre.     All  kinds  of  vegetables  are  grown  in  abundance.  ^M 

The  sugar  beet  is  extensively  cultivated,  and  the  sugar  beet  ^M 

industry  is  one  of  the  most  important  in  the  state.     The  total  ^ 


llllllllilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllilllllllll^^^ 


^  BOISE  FROM  THE  OWYHEE  HOTEL  ROOF  GARDEN  ^ 

lilllillllilllliliillllilllllllililllillilllll 


Ill 

value  of  the  eight  principal  farm  products  of  the  state  for  the  ^M 

year  1912  is  about  $40,000,000.  ^ 

Idaho  is  celebrated  for  its  fruits  of  all  kinds  except  those  ■ 

of  the  citrus  family.     Idaho  apples  have  no  superior  in  the  ^1 

markets  of  the  world.     She  is  equally  famous  for  her  peaches,  ^M 

pears,  apricots  and  berries.  ^M 

Four  thousand   cars   of   fruit  were   shipped   from   Idaho  ^m 

during  the  year  1912.     There  are  in  the  state  142,000  acres  H 

of  bearing  fruit  trees.  ^M 

Idaho    is    a    natural  stock  state.     Its  8,000,000  acres  of  H 

grazing  lands  afford  good  ranges.     Sheep  are  very  profitable.  = 

This  industry  alone  puts  into  circulation  annually  among  the  s 

farmers,  laborers,  and  merchants  $7,000,000.     There  are  over  S 

2,000,000  head  of  sheep  in  the  state,  and  over  $18,000,000  H 

capital  invested  in  the  industry.     In  1912  the  wool  shipment  ^M 

from  Idaho  amounted  to  19,200,000  pounds,  from  which  were  H 

received  $3,250,000,  which  profits  were  increased  by  $4,750,-  H 

000  from  the  sale  of  mutton.  ^g 

Dairying  is  a  very  profitable  industry  in  Idaho,  as  also  H 

is  mining.     The  timber  resources  of  the  state  are  almost  illim-  H 

itable.       Her     forest    area     of     20,000,000     acres     contains  B 

enough  merchantable  timber  to  supply  the  west  for  the  next  B 

500  years  if  it  is  properly  conserved.  H 

Educationally,  Idaho  takes  high  rank  among  the  sister-  ^ 

hood  of  states.     The  3,386,000  acres  of  land  donated  by  con-  B 

gress,  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  which  go  to  the  support  H 

of  the  public  schools,  provide  a  large  fund,  which,  by  statute  ^M 

and  by  act  of  congress,  is  so  carefully  managed  that  only  the  S 

interest  can  be  used.     We  have  a  state  university,  two  normal  S 

schools,  one  state  academy,  and  modern  high  schools,  in  all  ^M 

the  towns  that  are  up-to-date  in  every  respect.     Idaho  pays  ^M 

a  higher  annual  salary  to  public  school  teachers  than  Ohio  or  H 

Indiana.     Students  are  provided  with  text  books  by  the  state.  ^M 

All  of  the  various  religious  denominations  are  well  repre-  H 

sented  and  moral  standards  are  high.     Morally  and  religiously  ^g 

Idaho  people  will  compare  favorably  with  those  of  any  other  H 

state  in  the  Union.  ^m 


I             There  is  nothing  of  the  "wild  and  woolly"  about  Idaho.  ^ 

I      Here  woman  takes  her  place  on  a  political  equality  with  man;  ^1 

I      she  has  the  right  of  voting.  ^J 

I             We  have  water  power  in  abundance  with  which  to  make  ^M 

I      electricity,  and  the  state's  development  along  electrical  lines  ^M 

i      is  phenomenal.  H 

I             U.    S.    Senator   James    H.    Brady,   in   an    address    before  ^M 

I      the  conference  of  Governors  at  Washington,  D.  C,  said  as  to  B 

f      his  home  in  Pocatello:     "I  have  not  had  a  fire  in  my  house  ^| 

I      to  cook  by  for  seven  years,  nor  a  lire  to  heat  the  house,  either.  S 

f      We  heat  our  home,  we  light  our  house,  we  heat  our  bath  water  ^ 

I      for  domestic  use,  and  we  do  our  cooking,  make  our  ice  cream  H 

and  churn  the  butter,  do  the  washing  and  ironing,  and  the  ^| 

I      girls  even  wash  the  dishes  by  electricity."  H 

Into  such  an  environment  we  invite  you.     Should  you  cast  ^| 

in  your  lot  with  us,  you  will  be  in  a  state  where  cities  and  ^M 

towns  grow  as  if  by  magic,  where,  in  the  course  of  a  few  M 

lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll 


===      Swan  Falls  Dam  and  Power  Plant  on  Snake  River  Generating  Light  and  Power  for  Boise 


plllillllllililllillillilllllillilllillilllillllllllilllilllll^ 

^m  years,  the  sage-brush  plains  give  way  to  the  modern  city  with  M 

^=  its  electric  lights  and  its  trolley  lines,  where  there  is  health,  ^ 

M  wealth,  happiness  and  abundance  for  all.  ^ 

m  A  BIT  OF  HISTORY  | 

^=  You  recall  Keats'  striking  lines  in  which  he  compares  the  H 

^1  surprises  and  delights  of  Chapman's  Homer  to  the  discovery  ^M 

^1  of  the  Pacific  when  stout  old  Cortez  and  all  his  men  looked  H 

^M  upon  that  vast  expanse  of  water  in  wonder  and,  "silent  upon  H 

^=  a  peak  in  Darien."  ^m 

^M  Something  like  this  happened  when  in  1834  some  French  ^m 

^M  Canadian  explorers,  a  part  of  Captain  Bonneville's  expedition,  ^g 

^M  whose  exploits  were  described  so  graphically  by  Washington  ^ 

^1  Irving,  pitched  camp  on  the  mesa  overlooking  the  site  where  ^ 

^M  Boise  now  stands  and  looked  down  upon  the  valley  through  ^S 

^m  which  rippled  a  river  of  surpassing  loveliness  through  ranks  H 

^M  of  nodding  poplars.  H 

^M  They  had  traveled  for  many  days  through  dust  and  sage-  ^M 

^m  brush  in  the  heat  of  summer;  they  had  not  seen  a  tree  for  ^J 

^M  hundreds  of  miles.     When  they  saw  the  trees  along  the  river  ^ 

■  they  exclaimed:  "Les  bois,  les  bois  !  Voyez  les  bois  !"  "The  H 
^m  woods,  the  woods,  see  the  woods  !"  ^M 
^m  It  is  from  this  circumstance  that  the  Boise  river  takes  its  H 
^=  name,  and  the  city  was  named  after  the  river.  ^3 

■  On  the  28th  of  June,  1863,  Major  Lugabill  of  the  United  ^ 
H  States  army  with  a  troop  of  cavalry,  pitched  camp  on  what  ^ 
^M  is  now  known  as  Government  Island.  His  object  was  to  ^M 
M  select  a  suitable  place  to  establish  a  military  post.  About  the  M 
^  6th  of  July  the  same  year  he  selected  and  located  the  present  H 
^=  site  of  Fort  Boise,  now  Boise  Barracks.  H 
^=  A  few  days  after  that  Cyrus  Jacobs,  H.  C.  Riggs  and  ^| 
^M  Frank  and  Thomas  Davis  laid  out  the  town  of  Boise.  ^B 
^=  Boise  grew  with  the  growth  of  the  territory.  It  was  the  ^J 
^=  territorial  capital,  and  when  statehood  was  obtained  in  1890  ^| 
^m  it  became  the  capital  of  the  state,  and  is  now  as  it  has  been  ^ 
^H  for  many  y^'ars,  the  financial,  social  and  political  metropolis  ^M 
^B  of  the  state.  ^M 


LOOKING  WEST  ON  MAIN  STREET 


THE  STORY  OF  BOISE 

One  of  the  old  Hebrew  writers  in  a  burst  of  poesy,  said 
of  Jerusalem:  "Beautiful  for  situation,  the  joy  of  the  whole 
earth." 

Boise  is  beautiful  for  situation  as  was  Jerusalem  and  it 
is  the  pride  of  the  entire  northwest.  It  is  the  best  little  city 
in  the  United  States.  It  is  substantially  built,  it  is  strictly 
up-to-date  in  every  detail,  its  business  and  social  and  educa- 
tional advantages  are  inferior  to  none,  and  it  offers  to  the 
homeseeker  an  opportunity  to  get  rich  if  he  is  poor  and  to  get 
well  if  he  is  sick. 

Boise  is  located  about  half  way  between  Salt  Lake  City 
and  Portland  on  the  Oregon  Short  Line  Railroad.  Its  popu- 
la.tion,  including  its  immediate  environment,  is  in  excess  of 
25,000. 

The  city  nestles  in  the  encircling  arms  of  a  series  of  sur- 
rounding foothills  that  protect  it  from  the  severer  blasts  that 
sometimes  blow  across  the  mesa. 

Its  altitude  of  2760  feet  above  the  sea  level  removes  it 


■I 


llilllilllill 


=      St.  John's  Cathedral     First  Methodist  Church    St.  Michael's  Cathedral     Christian  Church     = 

■illilllillllllilllllllllllllillilllllllllllllllllllllillillllill^ 


■I 


from  any  danger  from  malaria  and  brings  the  invigorating 
ozone  from  the  mountains  with  health  and  healing  on  its  wings. 

Here  is  an  opportune  occasion  to  say  that  Boise  is  the 
healthiest  city  in  the  United  States.  Its  death  rate  per  thous- 
and as  shown  by  the  government  reports  of  the  troops  of  cav- 
alry located  here,  is  the  lowest  of  any  other  section  where  gov- 
ernment troops  are  located. 

Boise,  and  the  entire  Boise  Valley  is  a  natural  sanitarium. 

As  there  is  something  in  the  climate  and  surroundings  that 
destroy  certain  fruit  pests  that  greatly  trouble  other  sections 
of  the  west  and  can  only  be  destroyed  by  much  pains  and 
effort,  so  there  is  also  something  in  the  climate  and  environ- 
ment that  is  destructive  to  many  disease  germs,  especially 
tuberculosis. 

Boise  has  never  had  a  case  of  sunstroke.  No  cyclones, 
no  severe  storms,  very  little  thunder  and  lightning,  no  earth- 
quakes. 

Its  climate  is  all  that  could  reasonably  be  desired.  There 
are  only  a  very  few  nights  in  summer  that  people  do  not  sleep 
under  blankets.  For  a  few  weeks  in  summer  the  days  are 
warm,  but  not  severely  so;  the  nights  are  cool.  The  winters 
are  as  a  general  rule  mild.  The  climate  is  of  that  bracing 
kind  that  does  not  enervate  like  that  of  Southern  California; 
it  stimulates  and  strengthens. 

Naturally  you  would  suppose  climatic  conditions  in  Boise 
would  be  about  the  same  as  in  other  places  of  similar  latitude. 
Not  so.  The  mean  summer  temperature  as  given  in  official 
publications  of  the  United  States  weather  bureau  is  70  de- 
grees, the  average  minimum  temperature  of  summer  is  54 
degrees;  the  average  winter  temperature  is  32  degrees,  the 
average  minimum  26. 

There  are  periods  in  winter  when  the  ground  is  frozen 
and  children  can  enjoy  the  luxury  of  skating  on  the  adjacent 
sloughs,  but  there  are  days  at  a  time  when  the  temperature 
does  not  fall  below  the  freezing  point.  During  some  winters 
flowers  bloom  out  of  doors  in  January  and  wild  flowers  often 
are  found  in  the  hills  as  early  as  February;  roses  bloom  in 
Boise  door-yards  nearly  up  to  Christmas. 


pn   wm  11  11  ifj 


■I 


IN  THE  WHOLESALE  DISTRICT 

11 


m  BOISE  CLIMATE  | 

^=  By  Director  Wells,  U.  S.  Weather  Bureau  ^ 

M  The  climate  of  Boise  is  influenced  noticeably  by  the  pre-  ^ 

^5  vailing  westerly  winds,  which  blow  over  this  region  from  the  ^g 

^=  north    Pacific   Ocean,   and   by   the   mountain   barrier   on   the  S 

^M  northeast,   which   protects    from   the   severe   cold   waves   that  H 

s  are  so  prominent  a  factor  of  the  weather  east  of  the  Conti-  ^ 

^  nental  Divide.      For  this   reason  the  climate  here  is   milder  ^ 

^g  than  is  found  in  the  same  latitude  farther  east.     The  mean  ^M 

^=  annual  temperature  is  50.6  degrees,  which  is  about  the  same  s 

^M  as  is  found  in  northern  Kansas.     The  January  mean  is  29.3,  H 

^  which  is   about  the  same  as   is   found  in  western  Oklahoma  ^ 

B  and  central  Missouri,  while  the  July  mean  is  72.8,  which  is  B 

S  about  the   same   as   that   found  in   southern   Minnesota.      In  S 

M  summer   the   temperature    occasionally    exceeds    100    degrees  ^ 

^M  for  a  short  time  in  the  afternoon,  but  at  such  times  the  hu-  S 

^M  midity  is  low,  and  these  hot  afternoons  are  usually  followed  ^m 

^M  by  cool,  pleasant  evenings.     In  winter  the  temperature  occa-  ■ 

H  sionally  falls  below  zero,  but  this  does  not  occur  every  win-  ^ 

^=  ter,  and  when  it  does   occur  there  is   almost   entire  absence  ^ 

^M  of   wind.      The   winters    are   moist,   but   the   rainfall   is    not  B 

^M  heavy.     The  annual  rainfall  is  slightly  less  than  that  at  Los  S 

S  Angeles,  California,  and  is  considerably  less  than  one-third  S 

^  that  at  New  York  City.     Some  snow  falls,  but  it  seldom  re-  s 

^M  mains   on  the  ground  long  enough  to  make   good  sleighing.  S 

^M  Light  wind  velocities   are  a  striking   feature  of  the   climate  H 

^M  of  Boise.     The  average  wind  velocity  at  Boise  is  five  miles  M 

S  per  hour.      This   feature,  together  with  the  equable  temper-  ^ 

^M  ature   and   light   rainfall,   make   it   possible   to   sleep   out   of  ^M 

^H  doors  in  comfort  during  the  entire  year.     The  relative  humid-  ■ 

^H  ity  is  high  in  winter  but  low  in  summer  and  varies  consider-  M 

^m  ably  at  different  hours  of  the  day,  being  much  higher  in  the  ^ 

^M  morning  than  in  the  afternoon.      There  is  an  abundance  of  ^M 

^=  sunshine  during  the  spring,  summer  and  fall,  the  only  period  H 

^m  of  deficiency  being  in  the  winter  months.     There  is  an  aver-  H 

^=  age  of  26  hours  more  sunshine  per  month  at  Boise  than  at  ■ 

^=  New  York   City,  taking  the   year   as   a   whole.      In   summer  ■ 

^M  the  contrast  is  much  greater.  ^ 

lilllilllillllllllllllillilliilllllillillllilli 


IDAN-HA  HOTEL 


FIRST  NATIONAL  BANK 


OWYHEE  HOTEL 


Visitors  often  express  surprise  at  the  absence  of  high 
winds  here.  Windows  may  without  discomfort  be  kept  open 
nearly  every  day  in  the  year.  The  average  wind  movement  is 
only  from  five  to  six  miles  an  hour. 

Rain  falls  here  mostly  during  the  winter  months.  The 
precipitation  for  winter  is  5.2  inches;  spring,  3.7  inches; 
summer,  1.3,  and  fall  2.7  inches.  The  special  article  by  Mr. 
Wells  of  the  U.  S.  Weather  Bureau  appearing  on  another  page 
may  be  read  in  this  connection. 

Boise  has  300  days  of  sunshine  during  the  year.  Modern 
scientists  say:  "Everything  from  the  sun."  Think  of  the 
prodigality  of  good  things  that  must  be  lavished  upon  the  in- 
habitants of  Boise! 

When  it  is  said  that  Boise  is  in  every  respect  a  modern, 
up-to-date  city,  about  all  the  ground  has  been  covered.  This 
statement  includes  all  modern  appliances  and  conveniences, 
electric  lights,  street  cars,  trolley   lines,  telephones,  a   good 


^  MODERN  ROAD       FARM  SCENE  AND  IRRIGATION  CANAL  ^ 

■lllilllilllillllllllillillillillllllllllilllillilllllllillilili^ 


Ill 

water  system^  cement  walks,  paved  streets,  ample  sewers,  and 
modern  business,  educational,  religious,  benev^olent  and  social 
institutions. 

Boise  has  over  100  miles  of  cement  sidewalks  and  15  miles 
of  hard  surface  pavement. 

Her  modern  and  well  equipped  fire  department,  one  of  the 
best  in  the  entire  northwest,  together  with  its  splendid  water 
system  by  which  water  can  be  thrown  over  the  highest  build- 
ings with  ease  and  dispatch,  makes  insurance  rates  very  reas- 
onable. 

Boise  has  large  wholesale  houses  in  all  lines,  and  the  very 
best  of  retail  stores  and  groceries. 

No  city,  anywhere,  can  boast  better  and  more  tastefully 
and  elegantly  decorated  store  windows  than  Boise.  This  fea- 
ture excites  much  comment  from  visitors. 

The  hotels  of  the  city  are  famed  far  and  wide  as  being 
modern,  up-to-date  hostleries. 

Among  the  public  buildings  of  note  are  the  capitol  build- 
ing, the  city  hall,  the  peniteitiary,  the  Soldiers'  Home,  the 
United  States  Assay  Office  building,  the  Federal  building  in 
which  is  the  post  office  and  all  the  Federal  offices,  the  Carne- 
gie Library  building,  the  Natatorium  and  the  Pinney  Theater. 

The  United  States  Government  has  a  building  for  the  use 
of  the  Reclamation  service. 

A  glance  at  the  cuts  of  business  blocks  in  this  booklet  will 
give  an  idea  of  the  character  of  business  and  office  buildings 
of  Boise. 

All  the  leading  religious  denominations  are  well  repres- 
ented. The  same  is  true  of  benevolent  and  social  orders. 
The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  own  a  large  building  which  has  a  fine  audi- 
torium, and  all  the  accessories  of  a  modern  institution  of  its 
kind.  The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  have  recently  purchased  the  building 
formerly  used  for  the  offices  of  the  Independent  telephone 
company  and  which  they  refitted  and  remodeled  as  a  home  for 
the  members  of  this  organization. 

It  is  worthy  of  mention  in  connection  with  Boise  as  a  re- 
ligious center  that  the   Catholics   have  a  fine   new  cathedral 


^^        Mc  Carthv  Building        Goreczky  Building 
^^  Yates  Building 


Sonna  Block  Standard  Building         = 

Allen-Wright  Building  ^M 


m\\ 


PINNEY  THEATRE. 


almost  complete,  costing  about  $180,000,  and  maintain  a  resi- 
dent bishop. 

The  Episcopal  church  also  maintains  a  resident  bishop. 

Boise  has  two  up-to-date  hospitals,  the  St.  Luke's  and  the 
St.  Alphonsus. 

It  has  two  daily  newspapers,  one  morning  paper,  the 
Idaho  Daily  Statesman,  and  one  evening  paper,  the  Capital 
News,  each  with  complete  telegraphic  service. 

Recently  the  Idaho  Club  Woman,  and  See  Idaho  First 
magazine  was  removed  to  Boise.  Illustrated  Idaho,  now  in  its 
third  year,  is  published  here. 

Boise  is  well  supplied  with  amusements.  The  Pinney 
Theatre  puts  on  high  class  drama  and  comedy,  and  we  have 
a  number  of  high  grade  picture  shows,  and  two  theaters  de- 
voted to  stock  company  and  vaudeville. 

Boise  is  headquarters  for  one  of  the  best  baseball  leagues 


HI 


IB 


^M  in   the   northwest   and   has    fine   ball    grounds    within   a    few 

■  blocks  from  the  main  portion  of  the  city. 

^=  The  White  City  on  the  grounds  of  the  Natatorium  has  a 

^g  scenic  railway,  a  joy  wheel,  a  fun  factory,  pavilion  and  skat- 

^M  ing  rink,  a  picture  show  building,  a  band  stand  that  will  seat 

^J  60  musicians,  a  miniature  railway,  a  lake  for  boating  in  the 

^M  summer  and  skating  in  the  winter,  an  ostrich  farm,  and  other 

^=  attractions. 

^M  Within  a  few  miles  of  Boise,  down  the  Boise  Valley,  is 

^M  Pierce  Park,  where  there  is  a  fine  dancing  pavilion,  a  beauti- 

H  ful  scenic  lake  for  boating,  splendid  trees  for  shade,  an  ideal 

^M  place  for  picnic  parties  and  for  families  to  spend  a  few  hours 

^  away  from  the  dust  of  the  city. 

^g  The  various  labor  unions  are  well  represented.     The  va- 

^=  rious  printing  plants,  including  those  of  the  two  daily  papers, 

^=  have  large  pay  rolls.     The  larger  insurance  companies  have 

^=  branch  offices  here  and  this  swells  the  volume  of  money  that 

^M  is  in  circulation  in  the  city. 

■iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiy^ 


Scenes  at  Boise's  Amusement  Park  "  The  White  City ' 


^1  The  legislature  meets  here  every  two  years  and  Boise  is  ^m 

^M  the  home  of  the  state  and  federal  offices,  the  members  of  the  ^M 

^=  supreme  court,  and  of  the  district  court.     Some  of  the  wealth-  ^ 

^=  iest  men  of  the  state  have  built  their  homes   here  and  live  ^g 

^=  here.     Boise  has,  each  year,  a  large  number  of  visitors  who  ^M 

^^  make  the  city  their  headquarters  while  they  go  on  fishing  and  ^M 

^^  hunting  trips.  ^^ 

^=  This  section  of  Idaho  is  a  veritable  hunters'  and  fishers'  ^ 

^=  paradise.      Grouse,  sage   hens,   quail   and   all  kinds   of   small  ^ 

^^  game  are  found  here  in  abundance  and  the  bigger  game  can  ^J 

^M  be  found  in  the  mountains  within  a  reasonable  distance  from  ^ 

^g  The    finest   kind   of   speckled   trout   are    in    our   mountain  ^| 

^=  streams  and  lakes.     Many  throng  here  in  season  for  hunting  ^ 

^M  and  fishing.  ^M 

^M  One  of  the  best  indications  of  the  substantial  character  of  ^| 

^B  a    city    is    its    banking    institutions.      Measured    by    this    test  ^ 

^=  Boise  has  good  reasons  to  be  proud.     In  the  history  of  the  ^M 

■lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll 


city  there  has  been  only  two  bank  failures.  All  of  the  banks 
of  Boise  are  on  a  solid  basis.  They  are  conservative  and  yet 
progressive  and  are  managed  by  conservative  and  careful 
men.  The  buildings  in  which  they  are  housed  would  reflect 
credit  on  a  city  of  100^000  inhabitants.  The  total  bank  clear- 
ings of  all  the  banks  in  the  city  for  1912  were  $41,116,905.93. 
In  1912  the  six  banks  of  the  city  had  on  deposit  over  $6,000,- 
000.  The  average  deposit  in  the  city  banks  for  the  same  year 
was  $552,  probably  as  high  as  any  in  the  country.  Over 
$1,000,000  are  invested  in  bank  furniture,  fixtures  and  build- 
ings. 

Boise's  water  system  is  one  of  the  best  in  the  United 
States.  It  furnishes  water  of  the  highest  standard  of  pur- 
ity at  a  reasonable  cost.  Some  of  the  supply  comes  from  ar- 
tesian wells  located  in  the  foothills  above  the  city  and  some 
from  the  river  filtered  through  a  natural  filter  of  sand  and 
gravel  into  large  wells  and   from  there  pumped  into  mains. 


Illlillllllllllllllllilllllilllillllllillilllllllillillilliiiillilli 


Boise  has  a  good  gas  plant  with  an  investment  of  $500,- 
000.  This  plant  paid  out  in  wages  in  the  city  in  1912,  $12,- 
000,  and  expended  in  improvements  during  the  year  $47,- 
000.  The  total  capacity  of  the  storage  plant  is  150,000  cu- 
bic feet. 

Many  of  the  families  of  Boise  use  either  gas  or  electri- 
city for  cooking. 

Tap  any  of  the  mains  of  the  Boise  water  system  anj^  time  of 
the  day  or  night,  anywhere  in  the  city,  and  you  get  a  glass 
of  pure,  sparkling  water,  cool  and  refreshing.  The  Boise 
water  system  represents  an  investment  of  $500,000  and  has 
a  capacity  of  300,000  cubic  feet  per  24  hours. 

Electricity  for  lighting,  heating  and  power  purposes  is 
furnished  mainly  by  the  Idaho  and  Oregon  Light  and  Power 
Company,  as  formerly  known.  Since  the  consolidation  of  the 
traction  interests  this  company  is  in  the  merger  and  is  now  a 
part  of  the  Idaho  Traction  Company. 

This  Company  procures  power  from  three  plants,  the 
Barber  plant  on  the  Boise  river,  the  Horseshoe  Bend  plant  on 
the  Payette  river,  and  the  Swan  Falls  plant  on  the  Snake 
river.  These  plants  have  a  combined  capacity  of  12,000 
horsepower,  and  may  be  enlarged  to  double  that  amount. 

This  company  also  has  a  large  plant  partly  completed  at 
Ox  Bow  on  the  Snake  river  which  will  be  capable  of  deliver- 
ing 30,000  horse  power  for  electrical  energy.  Boise,  Nampa, 
Caldwell,  Ontario,  Payette  and  Weiser  are  among  the  towns 
supplied  with  power  by  this  company. 

The  Beaver  River  Power  Company,  which  has  been  oper- 
ating in  Utah  for  about  five  years,  is  now  operating  quite  ex- 
tensively in  southern  Idaho.  It  has  a  development  hydraulic 
plant  on  the  Malad  river  of  7500  horse  power  capacity  and 
with  an  ultimate  development  of  30,000  horse  power.  The 
Malad  river  is  only  214.  miles  long  from  its  origin  in  the 
lava  rocks,  and  no  ice  has  ever  been  known  to  form  on  it, 
so  that  all  danger  of  hindrance  from  ice  is  eliminated.  This 
company  has  a  line  from  the  Malad  to  Boise  of  90  miles.  It 
supplies  power  and  light  to  a  number  of  other  places  along 
the   line   and  will   extend  to   Weiser   and   the   lower   countrv 


this  season  where  they  will  supply  power  for  pumping  pur- 
poses. They  have  laid  their  lines  throughout  Boise  and  are 
supplying  a  number  of  people.  On  17th  and  River  streets, 
Boise,  the  company  have  a  steam  turbine  generating  plant 
of  2.500  horse  power  capacity  which  is  for  reserve  in  case  of 
emergency  either  to  lines  or  plant  on  the  Malad  river. 

Supplementary  to  the  general  educational  institutions  of 
Boise  are  the  summer  Chautauqua  and  the  Summer  Normal 
School.  The  Chautauqua  has  been  running  now  for  three 
years  and  is  attracting  wide  attention.  Its  board  employs  the 
very  ablest  Chautauqua  talent  in  the  nation  and  the  lectures 
and  entertainments  are  of  a  very  high  order  and  contribute 
to  the  pleasure  and  information  of  many  people  who  come  here 
from  different  parts  of  the  state  to  attend.  Some  of  the  very 
best  musical  talent  available  present  their  best  programs  at 
the  Boise  Chautauqua. 

The  Summer  normals  are  largely  attended  by  those  about 
to  engage  in  teaching  and  those  who  wish  to  refresh  them- 
selves in  theory  and  practice.  It  is  under  state  management 
and  some  of  the  very  best  educational  talent  in  the  United 
States  are  among  the  lecturers  and  instructors  at  this  school. 

The  State  Teachers'  association  holds  its  annual  session  in 
Boise. 

Boise  is  especially  a  city  of  beautiful  homes.  It  is  one  of 
the  most  picturesque  cities  in  the  west.  Here  we  get  a  glimpse 
of  the  Owyhees  lifting  their  heads  in  the  snow.  We  see  the 
pines  nodding  on  the  adjacent  slopes  of  the  mountains.  The 
sunrise  strikes  po  fabled  Memnon  into  chastened  music  but  it 
touches  the  green  grass  and  flowers  of  the  hills  into  glad- 
dening smiles.  No  Euphrates  pours  its  golden  tide  through 
our  streets,  but  the  cool  and  limpid  water  from  our  irrigating 
canals  ripples  its  musical  laughter  from  the  Natatorium  to  the 
Soldier's  Home.  How  Rembrandt  and  Millet  would  have  re- 
joiced to  set  up  their  easels  amid  so  much  loveliness  and 
spread  its  magic  charm  about  Boise. 

Many  of  the  rich  mining  and  stock  men  build  homes  and 
live  here  and  educate  their  children.  The  cultured  throng 
here ;  and  here  the  poor  who  want  to  better  their  condition  find 

III 


aiiiiLiiii 


'^'?*»5r?-.. 


Illillilllill 


EMPIRE  BUILDING 


a  shelter  and  an  opportunity  to  achieve;  here  the  poor  get 
rich  and  the  sick  get  well;  it  is  the  home  of  the  artist  and 
the  laborer,  the  civilian  and  the  soldier,  the  man  of  business 
and  the  man  of  leisure.     Come  and  cast  in  your  lot  with  us. 

POINTS  OF  VANTAGE 

You  are  interested  in  knowing  what  gives  Idaho  its  su- 
premacy. It  is  the  supply  point  for  the  rich  mining  and 
agricultural  country  adjacent.     This  is  one  item. 

You  must  know  that  the  mines  of  the  Boise  Basin,  and 
Silver  City,  of  Neal  and  Pearl,  together  with  the  important 
placer  mines  along  the  Boise  and  the  Snake,  employ  a  large 
number  of  men  and  demand  a  large  amount  of  supplies. 

While  the  Basin  and  the  Owyhee  mines  are  not  producing 
as  largely  in  gold,  silver  and  lead  as  they  did  some  years  ago, 
they  are  still  large  producers.     They  make  a  market  for  the 


lliji 


THE  PAYETTE  LAKE,  BOISE'S  SUMMER  RESORT 


products  of  the  ranches  of  the  Boise  Valley  and  also  for  all 
kinds  of  supplies  which  the  Boise  wholesale  trade  furnishes. 
A  statement  as  to  the  immense  wholesale  trade  of  Boise  may 
be  found  on  another  page  of  this  booklet. 

The  sheep  industry  calls  for  its  quota  of  supplies,  a  very 
large  part  of  which  Boise  wholesalers  furnish. 

In  addition  to  this,  Boise  is  connected  by  trolley  with  all 
the  near  by  towns,  and  by  telephone  with  all  the  towns  of  the 
entire  Snake  river  valley.  These  towns  pour  a  large  number 
of  people  into  the  city  daily  to  make  purchases  they  can  get 
cheaper  and  better  here,  and  to  attend  social  functions,  the- 
aters, concerts  and  fraternal  meetings  of  various  kinds,  and 
the  telephone  orders  come  in  for  goods  to  be  sent  by  post  or 
express. 

Then  again,  Bois**  is  the  center  of  a  vast  irrigation  dis- 
trict covering  over  300,000  acres  of  the  finest  agricultural  and 
fruit  lands  in  the  United  States.     This  vast  acreage  is  rapidly 


■ 


!■■ 


Illlillllililiillllilillil^ 

^=  being  reduced  to  cultivation;     it  is  being  cultivated  by  indus-  ^ 

^=  trious  and  frugal  people  from  other  states,  some  of  the  very  ^J 

^M  best  brawn  and  brain  of  the  nation,  and  these  help  increase  ^m 

^M  the  trade  and  business  of  Boise.  ^M 

^=            Just  above  the  city,  on  the  mesa_,  where,  some  60  years  ^ 

^M  ago,  those  French  Canadian  Voyagers  under  Captain  Bonne-  ^ 

^=  ville  looked  down  upon  the  present   site  of  Boise,  are   now  M 

^m  orchards  and  smiling  fields   and  happy  homes.      The   recent  H 

^M  extension  of  our  trolley  lines  all  over  what  is  known  as  "the  ^M 

^g  bench"  brings  this  large  population  in  touch  with  our  busi-  ^M 

^=  ness  and  social  life.  ^J 

^1             In  short  as  all  roads  once  found  their  center  in  Rome,  so  ^m 

^m  all  roads  of  business  and  political  life  head  towards   Boise  ^B 

^M  as  the  metropolis  of  the  state  and  are  potent  factors  in  giving  H 

^m  it  supremacy.  ^J 

^B             This  feature  is  worth  working  out  more  in  detail,  so  we  ■ 

^=  invite  your  attention  to  some  of  the  main  factors  of  Boise's  ^H 

^M  supremacy.  ^g 

■  FIRST  POINT  OF  VANTAGE-IRRIGATION  m 

^M             In  the  west.  Irrigation  is  king.     Irrigation  is  almost  as  old  ^M 

■  as  human  history.  Even  before  the  pyramids  of  Egypt  were  M 
M  built,  people  knew  how  to  divert  water  from  rivers  and  streams  ■ 
^M  and  lead  them  out  onto  arid  plains  to  make  crops  grow.  In  ^m 
^M  the  valley  of  the  Nile  and  in  many  valleys  of  India  were  vast  ^ 
^=  systems  of  irrigation  that  made  these  portions  of  the  Orient  M 
^m  the  granaries  of  the  then  known  world.  From  the  earliest  ■ 
^M  period  of  Egyptian  history,  irrigation  was  a  function  of  the  M 
^M  government.  ^ 
^M  Lake  Moeris  was  formed  by  artificial  means  from  the  ^M 
^M  natural  depression  in  the  Syrian  desert  in  the  district  of  Fa-  ^5 
^M  room,  from  which  canals  were  led  in  all  directions  to  irrigate  ^H 
^g  the  surrounding  desert,  water  being  fed  into  the  lake  from  ^| 
^m  the  Nile.  In  many  places  in  the  higher  districts  of  Egypt,  ^| 
^M  water  was  drawn  in  buckets  by  slaves  and  put  into  reservoirs  ^ 
^M  higher  up,  and  this  in  turn  was  bucketed  still  higher,  until  ■ 
^M  the  top  of  the  bank  was  reached  when  canals  led  the  water  ^M 
^=  onto  the  land.  ^M 


Ill 

Without  irrigation  but  little  could  be  done  in  raising 
grain,  fruit  and  vegetables  in  what  is  known  as  southern  Ida- 
ho. 

When  the  mines  of  the  Boise  Basin  and  Silver  City  were 
at  their  best  and  pouring  into  the  lap  of  business  hundreds  of 
millions  of  gold,  the  large  mining  population  was  supplied 
with  vegetables  and  other  food  stuffs  from  Boise  gardens 
and  the  Boise  Valley,  produced  by  means  of  taking  small 
canals  from  the  Boise  river  and  leading  the  water  out  onto 
the  sage-brush  plains. 

Idaho  leads  the  world  in  irrigation.  No  other  state  in 
the  union  can  boast  of  such  an  irrigated  area  as  Idaho;  no 
other  state  has  expended  so  many  millions  of  dollars  in  the 
reclamation  of  arid  lands,  and  no  state  has  so  many  acres 
available  to  public  entry.  Idaho's  canals  are  the  longest; 
her  engineering  feats  the  most  wonderful;  and  her  water 
supply  the  most  inexhaustible.  No  other  state  has  been  more 
active  in  securing  the  benefits  of  the  provisions  of  the  Carey 
Act,  and,  with  possibly  one  exception,  no  other  state  has 
benefited  so  much  from  the  U.  S.  Reclamation  Act.  And, 
furthermore,  no  other  state  has  done  so  much  and  made  so 
much  progress  in  irrigation  through  individual  effort  and 
private  enterprises. 

From  a  very  small  beginning  so  insignificant  as  to  consist 
of  a  single  furrow  extending  from  a  rivulet  to  a  garden  spot 
a  few  rods  away,  it  has  developed  to  embrace  an  irrigated 
district  of  over  5,000,000  acres  of  land,  with  canals  aggre- 
gating 13,000  miles  in  length  and  costing  approximately 
$100,000,000. 

Boise  is  in  a  position  to  reap  the  advantage  of  a  very 
large  part  of  the  vast  systems  of  irrigation  of  southern  Ida- 
ho. 

In  Ada  county  of  which  Boise  is  the  county  seat,  there  are 
over  100,000  acres  susceptible  of  irrigation,  and  it  is  now 
nearly  all  being  irrigated  and  cultivated. 

Boise  is  practically  the  center  of  300,000  acres  of  good 
irrigated  lands. 

The  state  projects  developing  irrigation  in  this  state  are 

III 


^^  Laying  Foundations  of  Arrow  Rock  Dam,  Ninety  Feet  Below  the  Bed  of  the  River  = 

■llilliilllilllillllllilliillillllilllllllllillllili 


illlillillilllillilllillillillllllilllilliilliilllilllllili 

^m  known  as  the  Carey  Act  Projects,  while  the  others  are  gov-  ^| 

=  ernment  projects.  ^ 

^S  Of  the  former,  Idaho  has  projected  and  in  operation  40  ^ 

^m  different  enterprises  with  an  area  of  2,000,000  acres,  and  con-  ^M 

s  templating  in  the  total  cost  of  construction  nearly  $70,000,-  ^| 

^M  000.     The  estimated  length  of  the  main  canals  of  Carey  Act  ^M 

^  projects  is  1,398  miles,  and  there  has  already  been  expended  ■ 

B  on   them   $23,000,000.      The   acreage   already   entered   under  M 

^J  these  projects  is  726,000  in  round  numbers,  and  the  acreage  ^| 

H  still  open  to  settlement  is  over  200,000.  ^ 

^M  The  New  York  canal  furnishes  water  for     irrigating     a  ^M 

^=  large  section  of  very  fine  agricultural  and  fruit  lands  on  the  ^ 

M  mesa  just  above  Boise.     It  is  almost  a  river  in  itself.     Already  ^J 

^  on  the  mesa  are  some  of  the  finest  fruit  farms  and  general  ^ 

^M  ranches   anywhere   in   the   west.      The   volume   of   water   has  ^M 

^M  heretofore  not  been  large  enough  in  the  hot  months  especially  ^1 

^=  to  sufficiently  water  the  crops  and  fruit  trees  on  the  bench,  ^M 

^=  and  so  a  project  was  conceived  to  store  the  water  of  the  Boise  ■ 

^=  river  to  form  a  supply  against  the  low  water  of  the  summer  ^m 

^m  months.     This  resulted  in  one  of  the  most  colossal  dams  for  ^ 

^M  storing  purposes   in  the  known   world.      The   object   of   this  ^| 

.^M  dam,  known  as  the  Arrow  Rock  Dam,  is  to  store  the  waters  ^| 

^g  of  the  Boise  river  so  that  they  may  be  let  out  into  not  only  ^M 

^M  the  New  York  canal,  but  other  canals  that  irrigate  the  Boise  ^M 

^M  Valley  in  the  summer  months  when  water  in  the  river  is  low.  H 

^g  You   will   be   interested   in   knowing   more   of   the   Arrow  ^ 

^M  Rock  Dam  and  hence  we  make  a  separate  paragraph  of  this  ^ 

^M  booklet  to  briefly  describe  it.  ^M 

M  THE  ARROW  ROCK  DAM  J 

^M  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  Assouan  Dam,  the  greatest  ^| 

^B  engineering  feat  of  the  eastern  continent,  and     the     Arrow  ^m 

^S  Rock  Dam,  the  greatest  engineering  feat  of  the  western  con-  ^J 

^=  tinent,  should  be  completed  about  the  same  time.                      •  ^| 

^g  The  Assouan   Dam  makes  of  the   Nile  a  great  lake.      It  ^| 

M  cost    $7,500,000.      It   will    irrigate    1,000,000    acres    of    land  ^ 

^M  heretofore  sterile  for  lack  of  water.    It  is  estimated  that  the  ^M 


LOCATION  OF  ARROW  ROCK  DAM.    351  FEET  I 

lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllli^ 


annual  increase  of  the  value  of  the  cotton  crop  will  be 
$20,000,000. 

Its  double  on  this  continent  will  bring  thousands  of  acres 
of  rich  land  into  cultivation. 

Victor  Hugo  said  that  to  describe  a  battle  there  is  needed 
a  man  with  chaos  in  his  touch.  To  describe  the  Arrow  Rock 
Dam  properly,  would  require  a  composite  man  with  the  bal- 
anced talents  of  Hugo,  Ruskin,  and  Balzac.  It  is  something 
colossal.  Even  a  casual  view  of  it  rouses  feelings  of  awe. 
It  has  a  vast  and  somber  perspective  of  mountains  that  spread 
their  evergreen  banners  of  pine  and  loom  awful  and  solemn 
in  rugged  grandeur.  To  chain  a  river  that  rushes  in  cataract 
and  plunges  with  almost  lightning  like  swiftness,  to  hold  back 
its  waters  that  they  do  not  run  to  waste  in  the  sea  and  make 
them  a  lake  whose  limpid  waters  can  be  led  out  by  canals  to 
make    glad    the    dusty    face    of    the    desert    in    whose    wake 


Illllilililliilllilllillillilllilllllllillillillilllililiililli^ 


:i.    IMPOUNDS  176,000  ACRE-FEET  OF  WATER. 

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiy^ 


will  spring  up  farms  and  orchards  and  gardens  with  apple 
and  peach  tree  fruited  deep,  this  was  their  problem. 

In  this  marvelously  inventive  age,  no  task  seems  too  gi- 
gantic for  the  intellect  of  man,  and  after  years  of  thought, 
the  great  work  was  begun;  it  will  be  completed,  so  it  is  as- 
serted by  those  in  charge,  in  1915. 

The  dam  is  built  in  the  Boise  river,  and  the  first  problem 
was  what  to  do  with  the  river  while  the  dam  was  being 
constructed.  The  answer  to  this  was  the  digging  of  a  tunnel 
30  feet  wide,  25  feet  high  and  500  feet  long.  It  carries  the 
entire  river  around  the  dam  site.  The  engineers  excavated 
some  80  feet  below  the  river  bed  to  reach  the  bed  rock. 

Before  beginning  the  work  the  government  found  it  nec- 
essary to  build  a  town  and  a  railroad.  The  town  is  a  model 
one  and  the  railroad  is  the  only  one  owned  and  operated  by 
the  United  States  government.     It  is  17  miles  in  length. 


The  dam  itself  is  the  highest  in  the  world,  higher  even  ^ 

than  the  Assouan  dam.      The  area  of  its   foundation  is  one  ^ 

acre.     Its  maximum  height  is  about  351   feet.     It  is  16  feet  ^ 

in  width  at  the  top.   About  2500  car  loads  of  sand  and  cement  ^ 

will  be  used  in  its  construction.     The  concerete  in  the  dam,  if  ^ 

placed  in  a  column   10  feet  square,  would  reach  to  a  height  ^ 

of  about  27  miles.     The  water  in  the  reservoir  will  cover  to  ^ 

a  depth  of  one  foot  an  acre  of  360  square  miles.     Together  ^ 

with  what  is  known  as  the  Deer  Flat  reservoir,  that  of  Ar-  = 

row  Rock  will  furnish  a  late  season  water  supply  for  240,000  ^ 

acres   of  land  in  Boise  Valley.     So  far  the  expense  of  the  ^ 

construction     of     the     entire     Boise     project     is,     in     round  ^m 

numbers,  $6,854,000.     The  total  cost  of  the  construction  of  ^| 

this  great  dam  will  reach  in  the  neighborhood  of  $7,000,000,  ^M 

according  to  the  estimate  of  the  engineers.  ^M 

We  have  entered  into  these  details  in  order  to  give  you  ^ 

something  of  an  idea  of  the  gigantic  character  of  this  great  ^ 

engineering  feat.     It  stands  related  in  a  very  large  way  to  ^ 

the  continued  prosperity  of  Boise.     It  is  one  of  the  factors  ^m 

that  enters  into  the  points  of  vantage  possessed  by  the  capi-  ^ 

tal  city  of  Idaho.  ^ 

In  addition  to  this  the  New  York  canal  on  the  bench,  al-  ^ 

most  a  river  of  itself,  irrigates  an  immense  section  all  imme-  ^M 

diately  tributary  to  Boise.     It  is  fed  by  the  Boise  river  and  ^m 

receives  a  part  of  the  storage  of  the  Arrow  Rock  dam.  H 

Beside,  two  large  canals  run  through  the  city,  also   fed  ^ 

by  the  Boise  river,  that  furnish  water  for  irrigating  lawns  in  M 

the  city  and  lands  throughout  the  Boise  Valley.     Thus  it  will  ^M 

be  seen,  the  entire  country  adjacent  to  Boise  is  well  supplied  ^ 

with  water  for  irrigation  and  other  purposes.  ^ 

The  reader  must  grasp  the  thought  that  irrigation  is  one  ^ 

of  the  main  factors  in  the  culture  of  the  land  in  southern  ^ 

Idaho.     As  Egypt  was  said  to  be  the  gift  of  the  Nile,  so  the  ^M 

abundant   crops   that   contribute   much   to   the   prosperity   of  ^M 

Boise  are  the  gift  of  irrigation.  ^M 

Another  thing  must  be   impressed   indelibly:      It  is   irri-  s 

gation   that   makes    profitable   crops   of   all   kinds   absolutely  ^ 

lllliililllllllliillllllilllillllilllillllllllilllillllllllll 


■Illlllliilllilliilllillllillllillilllillllllilllillliliilll 


Outlet  Gates  at  Deer  Flat  Reservoir,  Boise  Reclamation  Project 

certain.  In  many  sections  of  the  east  and  middle  west  and 
south  and  in  New  England,  the  drought  often  spreads  ruin 
and  makes  agriculture  uncertain.  There  is  no  uncertainty 
here  in  the  Boise  Valley ;  you  will  get  a  good  crop  every  year. 
All  you  have  to  do  is  to  tickle  the  earth  with  a  plow,  sow  the 
seed,  put  on  the  water,  which  you  have  absolutely  under  your 
control,  and  your  crop  is  assured. 

This  feature  among  other  things,  is  what  makes  Boise  a 
most  desirable  place  to  live  in  or  to  have  as  headquarters.  It 
is  to  irrigation  we  owe  our  fruit,  our  grasses,  our  grains,  our 
vegetables,  in  fact,  every  thing  that  soil  produces. 

Boise  produces  the  finest  fruit  in  the  world.  Her  apples, 
peaches,  pears,  apricots,  cherries,  plums  and  prunes,  cannot  be 
excelled  anywhere  for  flavor  and  size.  Her  small  fruits, 
strawberries,  dewberries,  blackberries,  gooseberries,  and  the 
like,  are  unrivaled. 

Good  incomes  are  received  each  year  from  a  few  acres  of 
strawberries.     A  ten  acre  tract  set  out  in  winter  apples  is  an 


■ 


^M  assured  competence,  while  a  twenty  acre  tract  set  out  in  either  | 

■  prunes,  apples  or  cherries,  is  a  modest  fortune.  | 

^M  Five  acres  properly  cultivated  and  discreetly  managed,  lo-  | 

^B  cated  on  the  bench,  or  anywhere  in  the   Boise   Valley,  will  | 

^=  make  a  good  living  for  any  family.     They  have  at  their  very  | 

^1  doors  by  means  of  our  trolley  lines  access  to  all  the  city  af-  | 

^=  fords  in  the  way  of     market,     schools,     theaters,     concerts,  | 

^=  churches   and  all  kinds   of     wholesome      entertainment      and  [ 

^m  pleasure.  i 

^=  Under  another  head  this  booklet  will  be  found  a  more  de-  I 

^1  tailed  account  of  what  is  profitably  produced  in  and  around  [ 

^M  Boise.  i 

^M  Under  the  present  homestead  law  only  three  years  are  re-  j 

^M  quired  to  prove  up  on  a  homestead  in  this  state,  and  a  bill  has  [ 

^  been  introduced  in  congress  to  allow  30  years  time  to  pay  for  J 

^M  the  water  right  on  lands  entered  under  government  projects.  I 

^M  It  will  probably  become  a  law.  f 

■lllllllllllllllllllllllllllillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll^^ 


LIFTING  WATER  FOR  IRRIGATION 


lllll 


Illllilill 


FEDERAL  BUILDING 


IDAHO  BUILDING 


I 


SECOND  POINT  OF  VANTAGE 
ENVIRONMENT 


HOLD  ON  ■ 


Boise  stands  immediately  related  to  all  the  leading  indus- 
tries and  to  all  the  leading  towns  in  this  part  of  the  state. 
It  is  a  sort  of  parent  of  them  all.  In  a  business,  social  and 
educational  way,  it  has  the  most  cordial  relations  with  them 
all. 

The  rich  mines  pour  their  wealth  through  the  U.  S.  Assay 
office  located  here  into  its  channels  of  trade.  The  immense 
profits  of  the  large  and  important  sheep  industry  find  their 
way  into  the  coffers  of  Boise  merchants  and  into  Boise 
banks  and  gradually  reach  the  masses  of  the  people  and  the 
laboring  classes  in  one  way  or  another. 

The  great  earnings  of  the  large  tracts  devoted  to  the  cul- 
ture of  agriculture,  fruit  and  vegetable  products  help  to 
swell  the  wealth  of  the  people  of  Boise. 


Ill 

The  Boise  Barracks  which  is  now  a  four  troop  post,  of 
the  regular  army,  on  which  was  recently  spent  in  substantial 
improvement  $250,000,  add  quite  largely  to  the  money  circu- 
lation of  Boise. 

Boise  is  connected  by  trolley  with  Eagle,  Star,  Middleton, 
Caldwell,  Nampa,  Meridian,  and  other  points,  and  the  people 
of  all  these  places  do  a  large  shopping  trade  in  Boise.  This 
leads  naturally  to  a  special  paragraph  on 

BOISE'S  INTERURBAN  LINES 

With  the  construction  of  the  Interurban  line  down  the 
Boise  Valley  a  new  era  opened  for  all  the  intervening  sec- 
tion. It  was  built  solidly  and  had  first  class  car-equipment 
and  gave  first  class  service. 

The  line  known  as  the  Boise  Valley  road  running  up  on  the 
bench  and  connecting  Boise  with  Meridian  and  Nampa  also 
brought  Boise  into  more  immediate  touch  with  a  very  desir- 
able class  of  people  and  business. 

The  city  also  has  a  fair  system  of  trolley  lines  reaching 
nearly  every  part  and  supplying  means  of  transportation. 

During  the  closing  months  of  the  last  year,  however,  a 
deal  was  made  by  which  all  the  electric  lines  came  under  one 
management.  The  various  lines  were  taken  over  and  are  now 
operated  under  the  name  of  the  Idaho  Traction  Company. 
What  is  known  as  the  Mainland  interests  have  now  control 
of  all  the  interurban  and  city  lines,  and  in  addition  to  the 
amount  already  expended,  amounting  to  approximately  $3,- 
000,000,  they  are  making  many  improvements  and  extending 
their  lines  which  involves  the  expenditure  of  many  thousands 
more. 

This  merger  gives  Boise  one  of  the  very  best  trolley  line 
service  in  the  west,  fully  up-to-date.  It  places  Boise  within 
a  few  hours  of  Caldwell,  Nampa,  and  other  towns  on  what  is 
known  as  the  loop. 

A  line  running  clear  around  the  bench  puts  Boise  in  close 
touch  with  the  large  population  there.  They  have  a  quick  and 
very  satisfactory  service. 

The  amount  of  interurban  mileage  is  59  miles;  city  mile- 

lliliilllliliiiililllililiiiliiiliiil 


;ii 


^m  age,  21  miles.     The  trolley  system  employs  167.     Over  $500,-  ^| 

^  000  was  spent  by  this  company  for  labor  alone  during  the  ^M 

■  past  year.  Estimated  value,  $2,000,000.  Boise  now  has  the  ^m 
^=  best  interurban  system  of  any  city  for  its  size  in  the  United  ^M 
^=  States.  ^M 
^=  Among  the  public  buildings  of  note  are  the  capital  build-  ^ 
^m  ing,  the  city  hall,  the  Penitentiary,  the  Soldier's  Home,  the  ^M 
^=  United  States  Assay  Office  building,  the  Federal  building  in  ^ 
M  which  is  the  post  office  and  all  the  Federal  Offices,  the  Carne-  H 
^M  gie  Library  building,  the  Natatorium^  and  the  Pinney  The-  ■ 
^M  ater.  The  United  States  government  has  a  building  for  the  ^J 
^M  use  of  the  Reclamation  service.  ^M 
^=  A  glance  at  the  cuts  of  the  business  blocks  in  this  booklet  ^| 
^M  will  give  an  idea  of  the  character  of  business  and  office  build-  ^J 
^=  ings  of  Boise.  ^M 

■  The  postal  receipts  for  the  year  1911  were  $96,902.22,  and  H 
M  for  1912  they  were  $103,923.31.  This  shows  a  very  fair  in-  ^ 
s  crease.      There  were  quite  a  number  of  improvements  made  ^| 


i  in  the  postoffice  building  during  the  past  year,  a  large  num-  | 

I  ber  of  new  boxes  were  put  in  and  the  interior  of  the  office  | 

I  made  more  handy  for  the  rapidly  increasing  business.  | 

I  In  addition  to  furnishing  and  running  an  up-to-date  trol-  | 

I  ley  interurban  system,  the  Idaho  Traction  Company  owns  and  I 

I  runs  one  of  the  very  finest  (the  Natatorium)   indoor  bathing  | 

I  resorts  in  the  United  States.     A  detailed  description  of  this  | 

I  resort  is  given  under  the  head  of  Boise  Buildings  in  another  I 

I  section  of  this  booklet.  i 

I  Another  item  under  this  general  head  may  as  well  be  dis-  [ 

I  cussed  here.     Boise  has  already  done  something  in  the  way  | 

I  of  manufacturing.     The  city  is  the  natural  location  for  woolen  | 

I  mills  to  handle  the  large  wool  crop  of  this  part  of  the  state; 

I  for  alfalfa  mills;  for  factories  to  handle  the  immense  output  [ 

I  of  vegetables,  such  as  beans  and  peas  and  corn,  and  fruit  can-  [ 

I  neries.  i 
i             Her   vast   resources   in   the   way   of  electric   power   make 

I  Boise  a  natural  manufacturing  center. 

I  Two    large    electric    power   companies    now    have    electric 

I  power  in  any  quantity   for  sale  right  here   in   Boise.      This 

I  makes  power  easy  to  obtain,  and  in  the  next   few  years  no 

lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllli 


Showing  What  Hard  Work,  Sunshine  and  Irrigation  Will  Do  the  First  Year 

111 


IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIH 


SOME  OF  BOISE'S  FACTORIES 


Illlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllli 

^M  doubt  those  interested  in  new  fields  to  establish  manufactur- 

^M  ing  establishment  will  turn  to  Boise  as  offering  the  very  best 

^M  opportunities   for  profitable  manufacturing. 

■  Boise  has  not  as  yet  done  very  much  in  this  line  but  she 
^M  has   done  something. 

^1  The  following  table  will  give  an  idea  of  the  beginning  that 

^=  Boise  has  made  in  the  line  of  manufacturing: 

m  MADE  IN  BOISE 

^m  Commodity                                  Investment          Employees. 

M  Creameries $  60,000                   40 

M  Cigars    10,000                   30 

=  Cement  pipe    15,000                   20 

J  Candy     35,000                   60 

M  Brooms     2,000                     3 

J  Trunks 10,000                     6 

J  Shirtwaists     1,000                     3 

^  Soap 5,000                     6 

=  Sweeping    compound    1,000                     2 

m  Brick     20,000                   20 

■  Quarries     100,000  50 

■  Harness    5,000  6 

=  Tents,    awnings     5,000                   1 5 

H  Mattresses     10,000                   10 

=  Apiary    goods    10,000                   10 

B  Bottling  plants 30,000                    15 

^=  Foundries    and    machine    shops   100,000                   50 

B  Bakeries     20,000                   30 

B  Packing  houses 30,000                   30 

B  Coffee    roasting     40,000                      5 

B  Brewing     1 50,000                   50 

■  Canning    20,000  12 

■  Totals     $674,000  473 

^M  In    addition    to   the    manufacturies    already    named    Boise 

^  has  a  Sash  and  Door  company,  an  institution  known  as  the 

^  Capital  Sash  and  Door  Company,  the  Coast  Lumber  company, 


^S  Boise   Lumber   Company^  two   ice   companies,  and   two   Beef  ■ 

^=  Packing  companies.  ^g 

^=  The  Barber  Lumber  company  has  a  fine  plant  with  a  ca-  ^| 

^g  pacity  of  a  million  feet  a  day  located  near  Boise.     It  will  re-  ^M 

^=  sume  operations  in  a  few  months.     This  company  employs  a  ^M 

^=  large  number  of  men  and  in  addition  to  its  lumber  output,  ^g 

^=  manufactures  immense  quantities  of  fruit  boxes.     In  order  to  ^= 

^=  bring  its  timber  to  the  mill  the  Barber  Lumber  company  has  ^| 

^m  perfected  plans  for  building  a  railroad  into  the  Boise  Basin  ^| 

^=  which  will  develop  considerable  new  business  for  this  city.  ^M 

^M  The  following  paragraphs  from  the  columns  of  the  Idaho  ^| 

^m  Daily  Statesman's  annual  for  1912  is  of  interest  in  this  con-  ^| 

^=  nection :  ^J 

^=  "During  1912  two  important  manufacturing  concerns  have  ^M 

^M  entered  the  field.     They  are  the  Boise  Stone  company  and  the  ^| 

^^  Western    Bottling   company.      Both    are    organized    on    broad  ^M 

^M  The   Boise   Stone   company   has   commenced   the   develop-  ^M 

■lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll 


Dam  and  Mill  of  Barber  Lumber  Company.     Capacity  140,000  Feet  per  Day  == 

llllillllilllllllllllillllilllilllllllillillillilllllllilliililllllil^ 


FREIGHTING  WOOL  IN  FROM  THE  RANGE 


ment  of  the  splendid  stone  quarry  properties  near  the  city. 
The  quality  of  the  stone  is  equal  to  anything  found  in  the 
United  States.  The  company  is  preparing  to  ship  its  pro- 
duct to  all  points  in  the  west.  The  company  is  now  con- 
structing a  tramway  that  will  carry  the  rock  to  the  ship- 
ping point. 

The  Western  Bottling  company  was  launched  during  the 
year  with  a  full  line  of  bottled  soft  drinks^  extracts  and 
specialty  goods  in  the  bottled  line.  It  is  shipping  its  pro- 
ducts to  all  points  in  the  intermountain  region,  and  though 
but  a  new  concern,  is  already  preparing  to  enlarge  its  plans. 

The  cigar  manufacturing  business  has  made  a  notable 
advance  in  the  last  year.  Local  manufacturers  have  raised 
the  standard  of  their  goods  and  made  popular  their  brands. 
They  have  thereby  increased  the  demand  for  them  in  their 
home  territory,  and  to  see  a  Boise  man  calling  for  a  Boise 
made  cigar  is  no  longer  an  uncommon  sight." 


■1 


Ililllillillillillillillililillillilililil 

BOISE'S  VOLUME  OF  BUSINESS 

Boise's  volume  of  business  has  increased  steadily  every 
year.  The  much  wider  area  covered  by  her  wholesale  trade 
in  comparison  with  other  cities  of  much  larger  size,  to- 
gether with  the  reasonable  prices  at  which  her  merchandise  is 
offered  to  purchasers  gives  Boise  a  commanding  position  in 
this  respect. 

Her  jobbing  trade  is  one  of  the  factors  that  makes  Ida- 
ho's capital  great  in  a  business  sense. 

In  the  year  1912  the  volume  of  business  of  Boise  was 
easily  $10,000,000  as  compared  with  $8,000,000  for  the  pre- 
vious year.  This,  in  itself,  is  a  measure  of  the  progress  of 
one  year. 

The  wholesale  district  comprises  12  blocks,  the  buildings 
are  mostly  brick,  and  the  houses  include  almost  every  article 
used  by  man  from  plows  to  pins  and  shaving  soap. 

About  300  people  are  employed  by  the  jobbers  and  whole- 
salers. The  200  traveling  salesmen  who  make  headquarters 
in  Boise  travel  from  eastern  Oregon  far  into  the  interior  of 
southern  Idaho.  Of  the  200  men  who  work  from  Boise,  57 
are  employed  by  Boise  firms. 

The  implement  and  dry  goods  wholesale  business  show  the 
largest  increases.  The  implement  jobber  whose  business  and 
stock  of  goods  are  located  in  Boise  have  done  $50,000  more 
business  this  year  than  last.  The  capital  and  stock  of  the 
implement  firms  located  in  Boise  exceed  $250,000. 

The  wholesale  dry  goods  trade  is  credited  with  doing 
$1,250,000  business  in   1912. 

The  wholesale  grocery  business  here  has  increased  ten  per 
cent  the  last  year  and  its  volume  of  business  foots  up  $45,- 
000,000. 

The  hardware  jobbing  business  has  done  well,  the  busi- 
ness in  this  department  amounting  to  $650,000  the  past  year. 

Packing  and  produce  houses  report  a  good  year.  The 
volume  of  business  of  this  department  is  estimated  at  $1,- 
500,000. 

The  Oregon  Short  Line  reports  over  3,318,000,000  pounds 
of  freight  received  at  the  Boise  freight  depot  and  78,982,- 
834  forwarded. 

Ililillill 


=     St.  Teresa's  Academy    Longfellow  School    Washington  School    St.  Margaret's  Academy     ^^ 

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 


Illlilllllllillllillllillllillllllllllllllilllilllllllillllllllill 

BOISE'S  SCHOOLS 

The  public  schools  of  Boise  rank  with  the  very  best  of  the 
nation.  This  is  quite  clear  from  the  report  submitted  to  the 
Board  of  Education  by  the  committee  of  eminent  educators 
who  recently  made  a  thorough  examination  of  the  schools, 
courses  of  study,  buildings  and  methods  of  teaching.  The 
committee  was  composed  of  Edward  Elliott,  of  the  University 
of  Wisconsin;  Dr.  Stayer,  of  Columbia  University,  and  Dr. 
Judd  of  the  Chicago  University.  Among  other  things  these 
eminent  educators  say  in  their  report: 

"The  course  of  study  is  comprehensive.  It  includes  the 
fundamental  subjects  which  have  long  been  recognized  as  es- 
sential to  any  school  training,  and  also  includes  those  forms 
of  organized  knowledge  and  activity  which  in  the  last  gen- 
eration have  transformed  and  enriched  the  course.  Especially 
commendable  is  the  full  and  unqualified  recognition  of  the  im- 
portance of  such  matters  as  health,  recreation  and  various 
types  of  industrial  activity." 

"The  supervisory  staff  of  the  school  system  is  organized 
in  accordance  with  the  practice  prevailing  in  the  most  pro- 
gressive cities  of  the  United  States." 

"The  more  evident  source  of  strength  of  a  school  system 
is  the  standard  of  qualifications  maintained  for  the  teaching 
and  supervisory  staff.  To  be  eligible  for  appointment  to  a 
position  in  the  elementary  schools,  under  the  existing  regula- 
tions of  the  board  of  education,  a  teacher  must  have  complet- 
ed a  four  year  course  of  study  in  the  high  school;  must  be  a 
graduate  of  a  standard  two-year  normal  school;  and  in  addi- 
tion, must  have  had  at  least  two  years  of  successful  experi- 
ence in  a  school  system  of  recognized  standing.  Eligibility 
for  appointment  in  the  high  school  is  based  upon  college  or 
university  graduation,  and  two  years  of  approved  teaching  ex- 
perience." 

The  valuation  of  the  property  belonging  to  the  Independ- 
ent school  district  of  Boise  is  about  $1,000,000.  There  are 
ten  school  buildings  in  the  district,  all  of  them  handsome  and 
commodious,  equipped  with  the  latest  apparatus   and  up-to- 


date  in  every  respect.  The  high  school  building  recently  com- 
pleted is  among  the  finest  in  the  west.  There  are,  at  present, 
121  teachers  in  the  schools.  In  1912  the  district  paid  in  sal- 
aries to  teachers  $121,000.  The  present  enrollment  is  3d4<3. 
There  are  875  pupils  in  the  high  school. 

Another  item  in  relation  to  the  educational  institutions 
of  Boise  is  that  the  enrollment  in  the  high  school  is  the  great- 
est in  proportion  to  the  total  enrollment  than  any  other  cities 
in  the  United  States  except  two,  Berkeley,  California,  and 
Newton,  Massachusetts,  and  there  is  but  a  shade  of  difference 
in  these  two  exceptions.  Berkeley  is  the  seat  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  California  and  large  numbers  of  people  come  there  for 
the  purpose  of  passing  their  children  from  the  high  school 
to  the  university,  which  accounts  for  the  largeness  of  the  high 
school  enrollment  there.  Newton  similarly  plays  into  Har- 
vard college.      Boise  high  school  enrollment  is  under  normal 


■I 


lilllli 


THREE  COUNTRY  SCHOOL  HOUSES  NEAR  BOISE 


^=  conditions  and  the  exceptions  noted  really  add  to  its  proper  ^| 

^M  fame.  ^ 

■  In  addition  to  the  ordinary  branches  of  an  English  grade  ^ 
^g  and  high  school  education,  the  Boise  school  teaches  domestic  ^ 
^g  science,  manual  training,  bookkeeping,  stenography  and  type-  ^| 
^g  writing.  ^M 
^=  In  addition  to  the  public  schools,  Boise  has  three  private  ^| 
^M  schools  and  one  business  college.  Under  Protestant  Episco-  ^B 
K  pal  auspices  St.  Margaret's  Hall  is  a  school  for  girls.  It  of-  H 
^B  fers  good  advantages  under  high  moral  auspices.  It  has  been  ^ 
^=  established  20  years,  has  fine  buildings,  good  equipment  and  H 
K  teachers.  There  are  at  present  100  pupils  in  attendance.  ^| 
^M  St.  Teresa's  Academy,  under  Catholic  auspices,  is  also  a  ^B 
^M  school  for  girls;  has  a  liberal  course  of  study  and  a  good  ^M 
^=  corps  of  instructors.  H 
M  St.  Joseph's  is  a  school  for  boys  and  is  doing  good  work.  ^B 
^M            Link's  Business  College  is  recognized  as  being  one  of  the  ^B 

■  very  best  institutions  of  its  kind  in  the  west.  ^B 
^B  Those  who  wish  the  best  educational  advantages  for  their  ^| 
^M  children,  will  find  them  in  Boise.  Our  trolley  service  enables  ^ 
S  people  to  live  anywhere  down  the  Boise  Valley,  or  on  the  ^M 
^m  bench  and  send  their  children  to  school  in  Boise.  Special  M 
^M  rates  are  given  by  the  trolley  company  to  pupils  attending  ^B 
^M  school.  ^M 

m                                     BOISE  FRUIT  I 

^g             The   fame   of   Boise   fruit  practically   girdles   the   world.  ^M 

^M  The  soil  seems  to  be  especially  adapted  to  the  raising  of  all  = 

^M  kinds    of   fruit,   small   and   large,   excepting,   of   course,   the  ^ 

=  tropical  fruits.  ^ 

^=             In  all  the  competitive  examinations  of  late  years,  Boise  ^B 

^M  fruit  has  taken  the  palm.     The  finest  prunes  in  the  world  are  ^J 

■  raised  in  the  Boise  Valley.  This  fruit  alone  has  averaged  a  ^B 
^=  profit  to  the  grower  of  from  $100  to  $200  per  acre,  and  the  ^B 
^=  market  is  constantly  and  rapidly  growing.  There  is  not  much  ^ 
^  good  prune  land  anywhere  in  the  west,  and  hence  there  is  no  ^B 
^B  probability  of  over  production.  ^B 
^B             No  jucier,   or   finer  looking  apples   are   raised   anywhere  ^B 

■lllllillllllllilllillllliillllilllilllilllilllil^ 


=  One  Year  Old  Apple  Orchard  and  Three  Year  Old  Apple  Orchard  near  Boise  ^=^ 

■illllillllilllillillillllillllillllillilllilllillllilllilllillilllilllil 


■illilllllllllillillilllilllilllillllilllilllllilllilllillillllillllilllil^ 


A  Boise  Prize  Winning  Exhibit  at  Apple  Show 


than  in  and  around  Boise.  When  rightly  handled  they  yield 
a  profit  of  from  $100  to  $400  an  acre. 

There  is  no  danger  of  over  production,  for  the  apple 
market  is  constantly  being  enlarged.  Millions  of  people  in 
different  parts  of  the  world  are  hungry  for  the  delicious  ap- 
ples produced  in  this  section  of  the  country.  With  increased 
facilities  for  transportation  and  a  lowering  of  rates  which 
will  surely  come  in  a  few  years,  the  already  large  profits  of 
our  apple  crops,  will,  no  doubt,  be  increased. 

Large  areas  around  Boise  are  given  over  to  peaches  and 
cherries.  One  cherry  orchard  that  has  been  bearing  but  a 
few  years  has  done  so  exceptionally  well,  that  its  owner  es- 
tablished a  canning  plant  on  his  acreage,  and  is  now  putting 
up  the  finished  product,  much  to  his  own  advantage.  Peaches 
do  remarkably  well,  all  the  finest  varieties  being  produced 
in  abundance. 


■ 


llii^ 


Boise  pears  are  the  astonishment  of  all  who  see  and  eat 
them.  For  many  years  California  was  ahead  of  all  other 
states  of  the  west  in  the  matter  of  raising  Bartlet  pears.  For 
a  long  time  Boise  Bartlet  pears  were  looked  upon  as  being  in- 
ferior to  the  California  product_,  but  in  point  of  flavor  and 
freedom  from  blemishes,  the  Boise  Bartlett  pear  far  overtops 
that  of  California  and  is  a  great  favorite  in  the  market. 

Apricots  are  produced  in  large  quantities  and  are  of  the 
very  finest  quality. 

In  the  matter  of  small  fruits  such  as  strawberries,  rasp- 
berries, gooseberries,  blackberries,  etc.,  Boise  cannot  be  ex- 
celled. 

A  few  acres  set  out  in  small  fruits  under  any  of  the  irri- 
gated canals  of  this  section,  is  a  competence  for  any  family. 
Published  statements  under  the  signature  of  some  of  the 
best  fruit  growers,  in  and  around  Boise,  men  of  irreproachable 
reputation,  will  be  furnished  cheerfully  to  those  who  send  in 
applications,  showing  what  immense  profits  there  are  in  fruit 
raising. 

Apart  from  the  general  market  for  fruits  as  they  are 
shipped  away  from  here,  the  local  market  from  the  adjacent 
mines  is  exceptionally  good  and  very  valuable  to  the  fruit 
grower.  The  mining  camps  near  Boise  take  a  large  amount 
of  fresh  fruit  and  pay  good  prices  for  the  same. 

Then,  again,  through  the  efforts  of  the  Commercial  Club 
and  leading  citizens  of  Boise,  a  canning  factory  has  been 
established  here,  which,  while  yet  in  its  beginning,  has  sent 
out  a  large  output  during  the  past  year  and  is  preparing  to  do 
more. 

One  feature  of  the  fruit  industry  of  Boise  is  worthy  of 
special  mention — the  certainty  of  the  crop. 

With  the  exception  of  very  early  fruit  which  is  sometimes 
caught  by  an  early  frost,  the  trees  and  the  vines  produce  un- 
failingly. This  liability  to  fruit  is  now  being  avoided  by 
smudging. 

The  fruit  growers  of  Boise  are  not  dependent  upon  un- 
certain rains  for  the  maturity  of  their  crops.  By  virtue  of 
our  splendid  irrigation  system,  the  water  for  necessary  quan- 


■Illllllllllllllllllllilllllllllllilllllllllllllllillllllllllllllllllillllillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll^ 


PLACER  MINING  IN  BOISE  BASIN 

tity  is  absolutely  under  the  control  of  the  grower,  and  he  can 
put  it  on  and  take  it  off  at  will.  There  is  a  wealth  of  sunshine 
that  matures  the  fruit  crop,  so  that  fruit  growers  here  are 
working  with  the  least  possible  modicum  of  risk. 

Within  a  few  miles  of  Boise,  either  down  the  valley,  or 
over  the  Bench,  and  within  easy  access  of  the  city's  fine 
trolley  lines,  are  good  tracts  of  land  that  can  be  obtained  very 
reasonably.  Homeseekers  and  those  desiring  to  pay  special 
attention  to  fruit  growing,  can  secure  from  five  to  ten  acres, 
either  more  or  less,  which,  when  set  out  in  fruit,  will  yield  a 
good  living,  if  not  a  competence,  and  will  grow  in  value  from 
year  to  year. 


THE  NEW  CAPITOL  BUILDING 

This  new  Capitol  building,  the  monumental  section  of 
which  has  recently  been  completed,  is  an  architectural  gem. 
It  was  built  of  native  stone  quarried  from  the  hills  near 
Boise,  the  base  of  granite.     The  construction  of  the  building 


A  HOLSTEIN  DAIRY  HERD 


illll 


■Illllilllllliililllllll 


The  Natatorium,  Boise's  Famous  Swimming  Pool,  Supplied 
by  Two  Artesian  Wells  of  Natural  Hot  Water 


is  heavy  and  substantial,  and  the  materials  entering  into  its 
construction  are  durable.  Its  dome  is  a  close  rival  of  the 
famed  dome  of  the  Congressional  Library  building  of  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.  The  interior  is  luxurious  in  its  appointments 
and  admirably  adapted  to  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  built. 
It  will  cost,  when  completed,  $2,000,000.  About  one  million 
dollars  have  already  been  expended.  The  building  is  dis- 
tinguished from  other  capitols  in  having  a  bright  rotunda, 
flooded  with  light,  and  in  this,  that  the  marble  composing  its 
finish,  is  of  white  material  with  dark  green  veinings.  Its 
furnishings  are  elegant  and  tasteful.  It  is  heated  and  ven- 
tilated according  to  the  very  latest  methods. 


THE  NATATORIUM  m 

This  bathing,  health  and  pleasure  resort  has  most  appro-  ^m 

priately  been  called  the  Taj  Mahal  of  the  west.     Its  thermal  ^= 

waters  are  taken  from  three  artesian  wells  400  feet  deep  and  ^| 


A  Typical  Farm  Scene,  Boise  Valley 
Raising  Hogs  on  Alfalfa.    These  Hogs  Are  Fed  No  Grain  Until  Ready  to  Fatten 


=  are    172   degrees   Fahrenheit.      The  building  is   most  pictur-  | 

^=  esque  and  beautiful,  being  of  the  Moorish  style  of  architec-  | 

^B  ture.     It  has  a  plunge  120  feet  long  and  70  feet  wide,  vary-  | 

^M  ing  in  depth  from  two  to  16  feet.     The  bottom  of  the  plunge  | 

^  is  lighted  by  10  submarine  electric  lights  of  about  3000  can-  | 

^M  die  power.     Facilities  are  afforded  for  nearly  every  kind  of  | 

^M  bathing.     There  are  130  dressing  rooms  including  bath  tubs 

^M  and  steam  baths,  the  latter  having  massage  rooms  in  connec-  | 

^=  tion.     There  is  a  gymnasium  on  the  third  floor  under  the  man-  I 

B  agement  of  the  Boise  Athletic  club.     The  artesian  wells  sup-  | 

^3  plying  the  Natatorium  yield  1,300,000  gallons  of  water  every  [ 

^3  24  hours,  and  are  used,  in  addition  to  furnishing  water  for  the  | 

^M  baths  and  heating  the  building,  to  supply  water  to  heat  a  large  | 

^g  number  of  public  buildings  and  private  residences  in  the  city.  \ 

^5  The  streets  of  Boise  are  sprinkled  with  hot  water  furnished  | 

^1  from   the    Natatorium   wells.      The    Natatorium   grounds   are  | 

^M  handsomely  laid  out  and  delightfully  shaded.     It  is  a  general  \ 

^H  resort   for   the   people   of   Boise,   and   a   mecca    for   visitors,  j 

H  The  property  is  valued  at  $210,000,  and  they  have  recently  | 

^B  added   improvements   amounting  to  $10,000.  [ 

I  TO  THOSE  ESPECIALLY  INTERESTED  IN  FARMING  | 

^=  Boise   and   vicinity   offer   very    superior   opportunities    to  [ 

^M  those  who  wish  to  enter  systematically  and  thoroughly  into  | 

^=  plain,  everyday  farming.     There  is  probably  no  place  in  the  | 

^1  west  where  an  investment  of  a  reasonable  amount  of  money  | 

^M  and  intelligent,  persevering  effort  will  assure,  in  so  short  a  | 

^M  time,  not  only  a  competence,  but  a  modest  fortune.  [ 

^=  Near   Boise   are   rich  lands,   all   under   some   one   of   our  j 

^m  irrigating  canals  that  insure  plenty  of  water  and  large,  cer-  [ 

^j  tain  crops  of  all  kinds  of  farm  products  at  good  prices  and  | 

^M  near  to  market.  I 

^M  Alfalfa  is  raised  here  in  large  quantities,  from   4  to   8  j 

^=  tons  to  the  acre  in  all  the  three  crops  of  the  season.     Alfalfa  I 

^=  is   one  of  the  very  best   feeds   for  cattle,  horses,  hogs   and  I 

^B  sheep.     It  produces  more  fat  than  any  other  grass.     Mills  are  I 

^1  going  up  near  Boise  for  the  purpose  of  grinding  the  alfalfa  I 

^M  into  a  meal  which  goes  far  and  wide  to  the  middle  west  as  I 

■lllillillllllllllllllllllllllllllilllillilillilllillillillil 


Making  Hay  in  Idaho— The  Sun  Always  Shines 


feed  for  stock.  Boise  Valley  farmers  have  received  as  high 
as  $50,000  in  one  spring  from  one  commmiity  in  Wisconsin 
for  Alfalfa  for  the  use  of  the  fine  blooded  stock  there.  All 
the  natural  grasses  are  produced  in  abundance.  Clover  yields 
two  crops  a  year.  Timothy  does  well.  Vegetables  of  all 
kinds  especially  potatoes  and  sugar  beets. 

The  latter  yield  from  15  to  20  tons  to  the  acre  with  19 
per  cent  of  sugar.  They  return  a  profit  of  $40  an  acre.  From 
250  to  500  sacks  of  potatoes  an  acre  are  produced.  In  one 
instance  $1780  was  received  as  the  gross  returns  from  six 
acres  of  ground.  There  are  no  potato  bugs  in  the  Boise 
Valley. 

Dairying  is  rapidly  developing  into  a  most  profitable  in- 
dustry in  the  territory  immediately  adjacent  to  Boise.  Ours 
is  a  section  where  the  cow  comes  swiftly  and  surely  into  her 
own.  Pasture  is  good  eight  and  one-half  months  in  the  year, 
and  succulent  storage  is     always     obtainable.     Steers     are 


A  JERSEY  FAMILY 


brought  to  their  full  weight  on  pasture  and  hay  and  without 
one  kernel  of  corn  or  other  grain  and  these  same  steers  will 
bring  the  highest  market  price  in  competition  with  the  corn 
fed  steers  from  the  middle  west.  The  cost  of  procuring  a 
crop  of  hay  is  40  per  cent  less  than  that  of  producing  a  crop 
of  corn,  and  the  difference  goes  into  the  farmers'  pocket. 

Poultry  is  a  very  profitable  by-product  of  the  farm  in 
the  Boise  Valley.  One  of  our  farmers  with  a  plant  covering 
20  acres  with  60  buildings,  and  a  flock  of  from  2,000  to  3,000 
birds,  and  a  total  investment  of  $5,000,  cleared  over  $2,000 
annually.  The  climate  is  very  favorable  to  fowls.  Eggs  sel- 
dom fall  below  20c  a  dozen,  and  average  during  the  year  40c 
a  dozen. 

Hogs  are  a  prolific  source  of  wealth  to  the  farmer  of  the 
Boise  Valley.  Here  hogs  can  be  developed  to  150  pounds  at 
a  cost  of  two  cents  a  pound.  With  a  ration  of  ground  wheat 
and  barley  they  can  be  brought  in  60  days  additional  to  from 


^  illilllilllllllilllilllllllillillilllillilllillillllillilllilllil^ 

^=  200  to  225  pounds.     It  costs  from  six  to  seven  cents  a  pound  H 

^=  to  fatten  hogs;  the  profit  at  the  rate  hogs  usually  sell  for,  is  = 

^M  quite  evident.     An  Idaho  hog  prefers  alfalfa  to  grain.  ^g 


■                        BOISE'S  COMMERCIAL  CLUB  J 

^M             It  may  be  proper  in  this  booklet  to  speak  modestly  with  s 

^M  reference  to  the  work  of  the  Boise  Commercial  Club.     It  is  ^| 

^H  not  many  years  old  but  it  is  fruitful  of  good  works.     It  is  ^| 

^=  composed  of  the  leading  business  men  of  Boise  with  quite  a  ^M 

^  sprinkling  of  the  solid  laboring  class.      Boise's   Commercial  ^ 

^M  club  is  built  upon  lines  of  use.     The  fourth  story  of  the  Boise  ■ 

^m  City  National  Bank  Building,  corner  of  8th  and  Idaho,  has  ■ 

^=  been  taken  over  and  is  now  occupied  by  the  Commercial  Club.  ^J 

^M            Apart  from  the  amusement  features  and  opportunity  for  ^ 

^B  harmless  recreation,  the  Commercial  Club  rooms  are  so  many  ^M 

^B  points  of  energy  that  raidiates  not  only  over  the  entire  city,  ^m 

^B  but  also  over  all  southern  Idaho.     Its  interests  lie  not  only  ^g 

^H  for  Boise,  but  for  all  of  the  cities  and  towns  in  this  part  of  ^g 

^g  the  state.     No  question  of  public  interest  escapes  its  scrutiny.  ^M 

^M  Every  good  work  finds  behind  it  Boise's   Commercial  Club,  ^m 

^=  Its   widening  circles   of  influence  extend  in   every   direction.  ^M 

^M  There  are  kept  on  hand  at  the  club  rooms  all  sorts  of  pamph-  ^ 

^g  lets,  documents  and  books  that  tell  what  Boise  is,  and  the  op-  ^M 

^g  portunities  she  offers  for  investment.     Its  Secretary  would  be  B 

^M  glad  to  furnish  any  of  these  articles  on  application.  ^| 

^=            Additional  facts  more  in  detail  will  be  furnished  on  appli-  ^g 

M  cation   to   the   Secretary   of   the    Commercial    Club.      Special  ■ 

^g  pamphlets  on  the  principal  crops  and  farming  industries  are  ^m 

^M  being  prepared  and  will  be  sent  on  application.  M 

^             You  want  to  know  something  about  the  price  of  lands.  ^M 

^=            Improved  lands  with  perpetual  water  right  may  be  bought  ^ 

^=  for  $75  to  $150  per  acre;  unimproved  lands  with  perpetual  ^g 

^M  water  right,  $50  to  $75  per  acre;  land  with  bearing  orchards,  ^ 

^M  $300  to  $600  per  acre.     These  prices  are  not  high,  but  they  ■ 

^1  are  constantly  going  higher.     Considering  the  dividend-pro-  ^B 

^=  ducing  power,  this  land  is  as  cheap  as  any  on  earth.  H 

■lllilllllllilllillilllillllillllillilllillllllllliillillillilllilllillil 


■ 


I  AFTERMATH. 

I  Dear  reader,  our  task  is  done  and  we  are  come  to  the  part- 

I      ing  of  the  ways.     The  story  is  told  and  the  question  presses: 
I      What  do  you  intend  to  do?  What  are  you  seeking  in  the  way 
I      of  a  life  home  for  yourself  and  those  depending  on  you?     Do 
I      you  seek  a  land  where  the  sun  shines  and  the  flowers  bloom, 
I      where  delicious   fruit  gladdens  the  boughs,  where  the  air  is 
j      instinct  with  health,  where  a  competence  and  even  a  modest 
i      fortune  waits  on  a  modicum  of  toil?     A  land  of  lofty  moun- 
[      tains  and  fertile  valleys,  where  there  is  opportunity  for  all, 
I      where  you  and  your  dear  ones  can  sit  under  your  own  vine 
i      and  fig  tree  and  enjoy  all  the  comforts  and  many  luxuries  of 
life?  Where  a  little  money  offers  the  best  return  for  invest- 
ment, the  glad,  wide  land  of  the  Gem  of  the  Mountains  where 
there  is  plenty  and  to  spare? 

Do  any  of  these  things  move  you?  Then  act,  and  act 
promptly.  Every  day's  delay  is  one  more  opportunity  less. 
Boise,  the  beautiful,  extends  to  you  a  welcoming  hand. 

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JULY  WHEAT  FIELD  IN  SOUTHERN  IDAHO 


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SALT  LAKE  CITY.  UTAB 


